Is Lando Norris Formula 1’s newest golden boy?

12-08-2021 18:29 Last update: 12-08-2021 21:46
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Cameron Smith

Since the arrival of Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’, it’s fair to say Formula One has attracted a far larger audience than ever before. With more eyes than ever tuning in to watch Grands Prix, the popularity of drivers has risen sharply. One man who has exploited this better than the rest is Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver arrived in the sport in the 2019 season, and since then, he’s established himself as one of the most well-liked drivers by fans, and fellow competitors alike. His bromance with former teammate Carlos Sainz is adored, while his Team Quadrant and Twitch channel have further promoted his influence and popularity.

But, he’s not just excelling off-track, he’s an expert on it.

After an encouraging rookie season, in which he finished 11th in the Drivers’ Championship, Norris scored his first ever podium in the first race of 2020, on his way to an impressive ninth place finish.

However, some viewed him as slightly overrated, and not in the same class as Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell, all of whom are potential future world champions.

But, since March of this year, Lando has stepped it up a notch, and proved those doubters wrong.

With a seven-time race winner in Daniel Ricciardo joining him at McLaren, it was expected that the Aussie would dominate, and Norris would face a tough task in keeping up with him.

However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

After 11 races as teammates, Norris has truly obliterated Ricciardo; I mean who could’ve seen that coming?

It’s the summer break, and the British driver is currently third in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of both Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas. He’s also 63 points ahead of Ricciardo, having scored three podiums already this season.

WHAT MAKES NORRIS SO GOOD? 

It’s arguably his consistency that makes Norris so good. Unlike other midfield drivers, Norris is always right at the front of the field. In fact, he has competed in every Q3 session this season and has gained places from his starting grid spot in all but two Grands Prix he has finished this year. The only two he failed to gain places were starts in the top three.

That’s exceptional, especially considering Ricciardo has been knocked out in Q2 on five occasions, and Q1 once in Portimao. The Australian driver was even lapped by Norris in Monaco.

Furthermore, Norris just has exceptional speed. In a McLaren not as competitive as either the Mercedes or Red Bull, Norris is always mixing it up with Perez and Bottas, and this season, more often than not, he’s come out on top.

I also have no doubt that he’ll be able to adapt to the 2022 car. The car for next year is of course heavily changing, but Norris has previously shown that this won’t faze him. Drivers tend to need a year of adaptation when heading into F2, before they mount a title charge, but in his first full season in Formula 2, Norris came second, behind Russell.

Overall, Norris is able to extract the maximum out of his McLaren, and he seriously is a generational talent.

CAN HE BE F1’S NEW GOLDEN BOY?

In short, yes. Norris has the pace on track, and the popularity off it, to become Formula One’s newest golden boy.

Right now, however, McLaren don’t have the resources to compete with Mercedes and Red Bull. But, with the new regulations for 2022, the Papaya team could well close that gap.

If that is the case, then Norris will certainly compete for the Drivers’ Championship.

The only thing will be, how he handles the pressure. We know both Verstappen and Leclerc can deal with competing for race wins, while Russell would’ve won the Sakhir Grand Prix if it weren’t for Mercedes mistakes and that puncture. We don’t know how Norris will deal with things, but the early signs are that while he isn’t exactly mature off track, he certainly is on it.

He rarely ever makes mistakes when in his McLaren, and his only DNF this season came thanks to Bottas’ huge error in Hungary. Realistically, almost every midfield driver has made some kind of mistake this year, whether that be in practice, qualifying or the race, but Norris simply hasn’t. 

The man with the most consecutive points finishes for a McLaren driver in history knows how to get to the end of a race intact, and also high up the order.

Norris might not be ready for a realistic title challenge, but we’ll never know until it happens, and with McLaren on the up, that chance could happen sooner rather than later.

One thing is for sure, Norris is a great shout for ‘driver of the season’ this year, and it would be accurate to call him Formula One’s newest golden boy.